Hemp produces oil seed and fiber that processors turn into a wide range of goods from clothing and food to body care products and biofuels. Several hemp advocates testified Tuesday in separate public hearings in Salem and Olympia that the plant can even be used in building construction.

Elijah Eickmeyer, a fourth-grader from Chimacum, Washington, traveled to Olympia with his dad to lobby for passage.

"If the whole world used hemp, then that would replace plastic and other non-biodegradable products,” he said. “This would help my generation to have a healthy future."

Industrial hemp and marijuana belong to the same plant species. They can cross-pollinate if grown near each other, which can make the resulting crops unmarketable.

Hemp products are legal to sell in the U.S., but the plant itself has long been lumped together with marijuana as an illegal drug by the federal government. Lately, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has not interfered with commercial hemp cultivation in states such as Kentucky and Colorado that have reintroduced the crop under state oversight.